Are you breathing smoke from the fire? Whether this is dangerous depends on how much smoke you inhale, how dense the smoke is and how sensitive you are to it, explains Nienke Sluis, Environment and Health advisor at GGD region Utrecht.
The complaints you quickly notice are tears in the eyes, coughing or an irritated throat. “People who are more sensitive to it may have some shortness of breath and become more short of breath.”
Once the smoke is gone, the complaints usually go away quickly, says Sluis. “If your eyes remain irritated, you can rinse.” Are the complaints not going away? Then you can go to the doctor, says Sluis. “After, for example, a few hours to a day.”